Victoriana Pendant

It has been some time since I have played with wire...

Having been inspired by the likes of Iza Malczyk, Magdalena Borejko and Emily Gray, (who are all creators of the most exquisite wire jewellery you will ever see!) I decided to get back to wire this week and learn some new techniques.

I want my jewellery to (one day!) be a successful fusion of beadwork and wirework...

...I have so many ideas for combining the two mediums but, alas, my wirework skills still leave much to be desired.  So more learning is required!

I have mentioned previously that I don't like tutorials...but this week I bought two!  One from Iza and one from Emi Kaz on the Jewelry Lessons website.  Emi's tutorial was for a 3-D Layer Vine Ring, but I set out to create a pendant instead.  I really just wanted to learn how to create those gorgeous, swirling, organic-looking vines that I so admire in the work of the aforementioned artists.

Not wanting to dig into my stash of sterling silver wire, I opted for copper to practice with.  A few hours later, and my 'Victoriana' pendant was born...

It's far from perfect, and I need to practice, practice, practice a LOT more...but I learnt so much from creating this pendant.  I used Emi's tute for the central wire-wrapped briolette, and the rest of the pendant was made up as I went along.  As always!



The pendant measures 62mm x 26mm...

Everyone else has gone to bed, so I am off to do some beading (my fingers are sore from all that wirework!)


Thanks for looking, and be well!

The 'Marrakech' earrings

Last week I was fortunate enough to meet one of my favourite bead suppliers in person, the lovely Jo of Cranberry Beads, at the Perth Bead Fair.  I came home with some gorgeous new seed beads and some of them have already found their way into one of my latest projects...

Following along with my Moroccan theme, the Marrakech earrings feature seed beads in shades of bronze, chocolate, silver...

...from the teardrop-shaped earrings hang three gorgeous wire-wrapped micro faceted smoky quartz briolettes...

...the earrings are slightly convex in shape, and are reminiscent of the arches and domes so frequently found in Moroccan architecture...

I wasn't sure about this design after I made the first earring, so I let it sit in my studio while I mulled on it overnight.  My husband saw it, loved it, and assured me it was a great design.  What do you think, should I listen to my husband more often? ;-)

Thanks for looking, and be well!

Nicole's Necklace

Anyone who has the pleasure of knowing Nicole Campanella is aware that she is one of the loveliest, most generous and most genuine people around.  Not to mentioned talented!  She is a constant source of inspiration for me, and I feel blessed to call her a very close friend.

Nicole's birthday was on April 27 and to help her celebrate, I made her this sweet little necklace:

I wanted to send Nicole a little piece of sunshine to help brighten her day :-)

If you haven't already, pop on over and say 'hi' to Nicole!

More adventures in wire

My love affair with wirework continues!

Here is my first wirework necklace, completely hand fabricated by yours truly.

I have used copper wire in various gauges (from 24 gauge for the wire wrapping, to 16 gauge for the neck wire - which I hammered, shaped and tensioned) and an assortment of glass beads in shades of lime and teal and turquoise.

This entire necklace began with a fantastic (free!) tutorial by the master of wire, Eni Oken. I recently joined the Jewelry Lessons website (where you will be treated to great information and tutorials, and very knowledgeable and supportive teachers) and came across a tutorial by Eni for creating a wrapped briolette with a coiled bail. Did I mention it was free?!

The tutorial was easy to follow (and free!) and after I had made two coiled drops following Eni's instructions, I devised my own variations to accommodate rondelles and round beads...and even a large bail for the pendant!

Still being enamoured with Emily Gray's creations, I was inspired to throw all of the coiled drops together to create a dingly, dangly pendant:

Combining what I had learnt from Eni's tutorial, and the 'S' clasp from 'Alexandra' (from 'Seed Bead Fusion' by Rachel Nelson-Smith), I created my own clasp. Here she is:

It's not perfect...but I love it! :-)

I am grateful to Eni and Rachel for sharing their knowledge and expertise, and to Emily for creating such awe-inspiring jewellery! Collectively, they have opened my eyes to a whole new world... and I shall forgive them for my calloused and bleeding fingers (if somebody is selling steel fingertips, please let me know), because I'm having so much fun!

Thanks for looking, and be well!

Earrings, Emily...and experimenting with eggs

Isn't it great when you come across an artist who inspires you in a whole new way? A few weeks ago I first laid my eyes upon the gorgeous wirework creations of Emily Gray.

Sure, I'd seen plenty of wirework and wire wrapped creations before. But something about Emily's work struck a chord in me instantly, and my usual thought pattern of 'That's cool, I must learn how to do that some day' stepped up a notch to 'Wow, I MUST learn how to do that TODAY!'.

So I found a tute online about how to wire-wrap a briolette (the 'messy on purpose' look...clearly I nailed the 'messy' part! LOL), and flicked through an old copy of Step-by-Step Wire, and off I set on my new journey of discovery.

Whilst I'm a long way off using AAA quality gemstones and sterling silver/gold-filled wire a la Emily, my glass beads and copper wire offer an economical medium whilst I'm learning the ropes. Champagne taste on a beer budget, you know ;-)

I love the look of patinated metal, particularly the antique effect that liver of sulphur has on sterling silver. That deep, buttery gunmetal effect is a great contrast to bright beads and gems. Not having any liver of sulphur just lying around, I resorted to something from my pantry...eggs! I'd read about using a boiled egg to patinate sterling silver, and had heard it could be used on copper also. So I decided to dive in head-first, as always, and try my luck. I boiled a couple of eggs, smashed them up, threw them into a clear zip-lock bag with my newly made wire-wrapped earrings...and stuck the stinky, gooey mess outside in the sun for half a day.

Smelly? Yes! But look at the results:

Before patination:

After patination:

Quite a difference, eh! I was surprised at the result. I really just wanted to create highlights and lowlights, and I think I've achieved that. The earrings were quite dark when I eventually rescued them from the egg bag, so I scuffed them with a kitchen scourer to expose some of the shiny copper beneath.

Not a bad way of using a couple of old eggs which would have been thrown in the bin anyway. Reduce, reuse, recycle...right!

Thanks for looking and be well!

Alexandra

The weekly challenge on the Beading Forum this week is 'Czarina'. Naturally, I had to enter! The word immediately conjured images of Russian royalty, decked out in glorious gold and regal purple.

Here is my interpretation...I have named her 'Alexandra', after the last Tsaritsa of Russia:

The curved components are created with herringbone and peyote stitch, and they are strung between glass pearls and glass teardrops:

I have always been a fan of wire wrapping, but have never ventured into that arena myself...until now! I am determined that 2010 is the year to learn, so I dug out my copy of Rachel Nelson-Smith's 'Seed Bead Fusion' (great book, cool chick) and made my first wire wrapped clasp using her easy-to-follow instructions. And here is the result:

The clasp is made with 20 gauge wire and wrapped with 32 gauge wire. I even made all of my own jumprings! (Funny how you start seeing everything as a possible mandrel when you begin wireworking... LOL) Here is a closer look (don't laugh, it was my first attempt at wire wrapping!):

Thanks for looking, and be well!